Why is this work relevant for Media?

In order to maintain its relevance in a saturated market that releases product innovations on a constant basis, Pond’s continuously take to media and utilize various innovative executions that will keep it top of mind. With the initiative to make meaningful connections amidst the pandemic, Pond’s partnered with the Philippines’ top digital beauty publisher and launched an engaging virtual learning space that allows its audience to discover and create new ways to care for themselves, especially for their skin even with the absence of an on ground event.

Background

Despite being the market leader in the facecare category, Pond’s has been struggling on improving its relevance due to the disruption of small and big players with faster innovation churn. To do this, Pond’s is undergoing a transformation with a stronger focus on democratizing beauty trends by offering a fun beauty experience with a campaign handle of “Make it fun, make it Pond’s”. Apart from its own product portfolio, Pond’s also continue to innovate on ways to easily engage and expand the business online to meet the growing demands of the consumers.   With the goal to maintain its #1 position and be relevant and accessible to a new generation of demanding consumers in the ever-evolving landscape, Pond’s leveraged on a virtual activation to give them a one-of-a-kind experience despite staying at home and help consumers gain a deeper understanding of their skin type and the best product available to

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

ONGROUND LAUNCHES ARE IMPERATIVE FOR IMMERSIVE AND EXPERIENTIAL PRODUCT TRIALS Pond’s, as with most beauty brands, typically launch new variants onground for consumers to fully immerse and experience personally the bevy of products offered by brands. Lockdowns, however, hindered these from happening. How could Pond’s, apart from showcasing its product range, also entice consumers in an engaging and immersive manner? POND’S PINKLAB, A ONE-OF-A-KIND VIRTUAL EVENT EXPERIENCE Pond’s thought of a way to pivot its usual onground event launches and adapted new technologies in order to provide an immersive experience for consumers. Driven by the initiative to make meaningful connections and to address the skin concerns of Filipinas, Pond’s partnered with Cosmopolitan Philippines, one of the country’s top female publications, and launched “PINKLAB”, a one-of-a kind fun and engaging virtual learning space that allows consumers to discover and create new ways to care for themselves, especially for their skin.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

CREATE A VIRTUAL WORLD AND EVENT WHERE CONSUMERS CAN PERSONALLY EXPERIENCE POND’S PinkLab is a virtual world aimed to make the practice of skincare a healthy trend for fun and fearless Filipinas. PinkLab provided exciting and engaging activities that were usually not done online. In partnership with Cosmo, Pond’s simulated a real event in a virtual setting created through a full 3D rendering of the venue. The experience is made even richer by incorporating details such as the side activities and functions that are normally found in live events. It’s a redefinition of events experience from sign in to sign out. PINKLAB ALSO SERVED AS A DATA COLLECTION INITIATIVE Aside from being a virtual learning space, Pinklab also served as a data collection initiative. Across the activities, Pond’s provided exciting rewards and vouchers to attendees, in exchange

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

CREATING GENUINE CONNECTIONS TO A RELEVANT AUDIENCE There were different virtual booths/tasks to accomplish: • LabPass – serves as user's profile/event dashboard • Pond’s Skin Advisor Live – a convenient way to examine skincare condition using the brand’s AI-powered chatbot which can also provide personalized product recommendations • Pink Studio – A photobooth that lets users take static and boomerang photos that can be easily posted in Instagram • Glow Clinic – a virtual learning space where videos and skinfographics are available • Skin Center – consumers can watch the live panel of Skin experts including Cosmo’s beauty editors and Pond’s brand celebrity ambassadors where they tackled top concerns and solutions. • Pink Desk – serves as a counterpart of an on-ground concierge. Live chat agents are also on standby to assist every user’s query. With Pinklab as the first interactive virtual beauty lab, Pond’s creatively pushed past limitations by

List the results (30% of vote)

• The month-long registration accompanied by callout post invitations from celebrity ambassadors garnered 10,000 unique registrants vs 2,000 target. Which also resulted to 10,000 new PII data gathered for Pond’s. • Further, the online experiential platform garnered the biggest registration turnout for a virtual public event under the brand. In addition, the event introduced the first passport system in HIVE, which allowed users to navigate their activities on the platform. • The event exceeded target pageviews and garnered 99K total page views which is 395% higher than target. • Overall, the event garnered a reach of almost 5,425,604 against 2M target, a 171% achievement vs target. • The added features and push on social helped as additional jump off points to trigger conversion and contributed to growth overachieving sales forecast. o Pond’s Bright Serum- 160% achievement vs forecast o Pond’s Hydration- 142% achievement vs forecast